The Other Side Of The Glass
by Toltec Spirit
Summary: Something has come down upon Blu like a bolt from the heavens, and is ruining his very existence. Will he survive the attack from within, or will he be lost from the world forever, taken away like a dead leaf on a winter breeze?


**One-shot 3/3. **

**Yah, I know it's short. Oh well. I think it's still super-effective at being emotional. (Pokemon reference, anyone?)**

**Enjoy, everypony!**

* * *

**The Other Side of the Glass**

Despite the vivacious visuals and appetizing atmosphere brought about by the peak of a Rio summer, there existed a place inside the marvelous cityscape where things were not so uplifting.

The sole surviving male of the Spix's Macaw, Blu, had been struck with a mild case of psittacosis.

The Blu Bird Sanctuary's team of ornithologists, led by Tulio, the master himself, had ensured that he would survive the terrible disease, but it was solely up to the navy-feathered bird's immune system to beat back the infection and render him healthy once more.

He was in very little danger of succumbing to the disease, but it nonetheless wreaked havoc on his physical processes and appearance.

His digestion was thrown off balance, limiting the amount of nutrients he received from his carefully picked meals.

His stamina was sapped, leaving him with just enough energy to stay conscious and move around his isolated quarters.

His eyes were inflamed and bloodshot, his eyelids half-closed nearly all the time.

Coupled with his lethargy and sluggishness, he resembled a bird that had not slept in two weeks. Perhaps the most debilitating symptom was that his airway had swollen, restricting his oxygen intake and denying him the ability to speak.

His owner, lifetime companion, and caretaker, Linda, had been in a state of remorse and sullenness since the onset of his psittacosis. She watched and monitored him for as long as she could each day, but by the same token, it was so heart-wrenching for her to see him in such poor condition.

Perhaps even more distraught was Blu's loving mate, Jewel, the yet-to-be mother of the children they planned to co-create. She craved so desperately to touch him and comfort him, but the highly contagious nature of the pathogens in his body meant that she was forced to remain separated from him.

And so it was that she surveyed him in his quarantine chamber with as much devotion as Linda, day in and day out. Whenever he scrounged up the strength to, he conversed with both of them via writing scribbled on a handy pocket-sized notebook.

The rest of his degraded life was spent sleeping, the healing relaxation known as rest now more important than ever.

Jewel was connected to her mate on a level with which not even Linda could relate to, and so the female macaw could always be found at the sanctuary hours after night had fallen and the humans had departed for their own residences.

She was so near to him, but yet so far away, her suffering soul-mate imprisoned on the other side of the glass viewing window, all close contact between them forbidden.

She knew in the deepest pits of her heart that he would pull through, as he would not dare leave behind his prime reason for life and the female he would eventually start a family with. Despite her lingering sadness and her downcast expression, Jewel had maintained a sliver of positivity and nurtured it like a young flower.

Not only that, but she kept in her thoughts a simple truth that allowed her to cope with the situation, one she had never experienced – or wanted to experience a second time – in her existence.

And perhaps it was fitting that her mate had been the one to reveal it to her in the recent past, around the time when they had spliced together their bonds of affection and pledged undying love for one another.

Every instance she gazed into his dull hazel irises, full of agony and bravery and loyalty, she repeated that powerful phrase in her brain yet again.

And it went like a little something like this: _What doesn't kill you, Blu, is going make you stronger than you ever were before._

* * *

Having woken up from a seriously-deep nap free of nightmares about Blu, I left our half-empty hollow and sailed through the thick, black night to the treatment center. I weaseled my way inside through a partially open window and made my way over to Blu's holding chamber.

I landed carefully on the narrow ledge holding the glass pane in place, gripping the cold metal tightly with my feet. I gazed slowly around the stark room, illuminated by a pair of what Americans would call nightlights, and sure enough, I found him.

There he was, his tattered body lying on the special bird-sized bed of folded medical blankets. The steel tray that normally held his food was devoid of fruit, though the strange-looking water bottle he drank from was filled to its maximum capacity.

As it had done during the countless other visits in the previous seven days, my heart sank, though I maintained my outward composure.

I debated whether or not I should try and rouse him so that we could communicate for a while, eventually deciding to try my luck. A part of me screamed that disturbing him was cruel, but he had explained that, since it was me doing the disturbing, he could care less.

I sighed and tapped my beak against the clear wall twice, the number of years since we became mates.

He did not respond, and so I knocked again.

Still nothing.

The third try was useless as well, but I succeeded at ending his trance on the fourth pair of knocks. He turned his head weakly, a faint smile growing on his face as he locked eyes with me.

He struggled to his feet, stood there for a whole minute, and then staggered along the counter that ran along the perimeter of the room. When he reached the barrier, he coughed his hoarse cough, and bent over.

Using his right foot, he grabbed the sharpened pencil and tiredly wrote something on the notepad. He then put the pencil down and, using that same foot, lifted the notepad up and held it up at chest level.

The lopsided letters made the words harder to read, but I managed to decode them.

_Hello, Jewel. I missed you so much. How are you? _

"I missed you too, Blu, and I'm fine. Well, as fine as I could possibly be," I replied softly, but with just enough volume so that my voice could be heard from where he was.

He lowered the rectangular book, flipped to a new page, and wrote something else, showing it to me when he was finished.

_To be honest, beautiful, I'm not feeling so hot. I'm hungry, but I won't be able to eat until morning. _

One of my heartstrings was plucked painfully, and my expression grew somber.

"I know it's hard, but please, try to hold out for the night. I know you can do it, Blu."

He penciled down his reply and flashed the notebook.

_I'll do my best, honey._

"That's all I could ever ask from you, handsome."

He worked on another new page, presenting it to me after going through another coughing fit.

_I just wish… oh, nevermind. Look at me, I'm such a pathetic sop now, begging for things I can't receive when I want them._

The notepad slipped out of his foot and flopped to the countertop, and he affected a worn-out, sheepish grin.

"That's nothing to be ashamed of, Blu. I would do the same… if I was in your position. But you will be able to appease your hunger tomorrow."

He nodded exhaustedly in agreement, and then craned down to stare at a blank sheet. The words he painted upon it were nearly too much, and tears pooled in my eyes as I scanned his statement.

_Jewel… do you still love me? Do you still love the sick, ugly, disgusting bird I've become?_

He stared wearily at me with his murky brown irises and irritated whites, awaiting my truthful answer – or perhaps searching for any doubt.

Such a comment would have persuaded me to give him a good slap on the cheek had, but he was in a living hell, and I only sought to reassure him with all my heart.

"Blu, no matter what, I will _always _love you and be by your side, until the very end. I love you for _who_ you are _underneath_ your feathers most of all, and that opinion is unchangeable."

His messy answer to me was this: _Hearing you say that makes me feel… warm and fuzzy inside. I guess I'm gonna be all right…_

He turned his attention back to his notepad and twirled the pencil upon the paper, but he never was able to finish his sentence. As if he was a puppet who had had his strings snipped, he fainted and slumped onto the countertop. He failed to rise to his feet.

"Blu? Not now… oh Blu…"

This was the fourth occurrence of his instant passage into sleep that I had observed, and I knew that he would not wake for many, many hours.

I pressed my face up against the glass and whispered, "Goodbye, Blu. I'll be here until you… wake up… like I always have…"

I then stained the glass with a few final tears, which ran down the perfect surface and left behind curving trails. The reason for my tears is what I spied on the notebook, next to his slowly pulsing chest, and that image would be one I would remember until our last day together.

Two neatly-drawn hearts overlapped seamlessly, and below them read: _Jewel, we belong together, and I… I love y-_

* * *

After two more grueling weeks of waiting, Tulio's report came in.

The news it contained threaten to burst Jewel's heart into a bloody mess, and she could barely maintain a grip on her consciousness. Said report was this: The pathogen responsible for Blu's psittacosis had been destroyed by his near-defunct immune system and the antibiotics administered to him.

His plague had been abolished, but Tulio double-checked with another serologic test to make _absolutely_ sure.

The presence of the pathogen came back as a negative result, relieving both bird and human to an enormous extent. Blu was bathed, given a final dose of relaxants and medicine, and then transferred to another sterile room.

The headmaster of the sanctuary gathered all of his subordinates to celebrate, as well as summoning Linda from their home in the outskirts of the metropolis. When everyone who held Blu in their hearts was present, Tulio slowly opened the door.

The only individual to creep inside was Jewel, however, as the entire human population agreed to present her with the honor of being the first to reunite with her mate.

Pure emotional magic resulted when she laid eyes on his clean form, Linda and the aviary staff looking on with wide eyes and fluttering souls.

* * *

When I saw Blu lying there, under the fluffy white blanket, I felt a magnetic force tugging at my soul, ordering me to go over to him. That force could only be classified as love, and I obeyed it without hesitation.

I inched my way along the counter and trudged right up to the edge of the funny-looking bed he was on, if you could call it that. His eyes were still bloodshot and his voice was still silent, but none of that mattered.

My Blu was healthy, alive, and as handsome as ever, finally free to be with me as I was with him. My eyes clouded over as the tears pooled along their lower edges, and I wiped them away with a swipe of my wing.

But they refused to quit, dripping down my face and pit-patting upon the cool, hard plastic.

The stirring look Blu shot my way when he locked eyes with me made them come out even faster.

Grunting, he slid the blanket off of himself partway and stood, holding his wings out in a beckoning manner. I pressed myself into him, sobbing into his shoulder as his wings fused behind me in an incredibly-touching hug.

I doubt either of us could tell what I was saying, but I figured my actions said more than my words could ever hope to. I refused to let go of him, holding him just loose enough so that he wouldn't have trouble breathing.

After being separated from him for over a month, I wouldn't have minded if I we were glued to each other for eternity right then and there. The rhythm of his heart… the scent of his feathers… the delicateness of his touch… they all reminded me of how special he was to me, of how it was destiny's will that we were mates.

That Blu was in my wings again… the sheer happiness and melancholy and love and joy flooding into me were almost too much to take in. Just the same, Blu's strained wheeze caused a rush of emotion that overtook my mind and body in an instant.

"Je… Je… Jewel… I lo-love… you. I'll… ne… never let… you go. I… pr-promise."

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**/) /) /) /)**

**I**

**I**

**I**

**V**


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